


Guide Me

by NotSoHotsuin



Series: Orchestra [2]
Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: Daichi anguishes and Hibiki is there to tell him stop, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Music, No Spoilers, alternative universe, they play piano
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 09:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSoHotsuin/pseuds/NotSoHotsuin
Summary: Daichi shares a bonding moment with Hibiki where he teaches him how to play the piano.Or, at least, that was the intent.





	Guide Me

Life started to look a lot more colorful now that there was someone else to keep him company.   
  
They spoke after class so they could go into more detail about what happened after their first meeting, and whether Daichi came out on top in that ordeal. The guy that wanted to pick a fight with Hibiki was known for threatening and pushing around newcomers. It happened so often that Daichi tried to intervene whenever he saw someone get caught in the middle. Since this had become somewhat of a regular practice, he rarely had the time to look all students in the face, which was why he did not recognize Hibiki the second time they met on stage.

 

Hibiki had to explain that he transferred to their school recently due to some complications, so he never got the chance to figure out where all the classrooms were. It got easier to manage after a week or two, but Daichi insisted on showing him around at least once for him to get the gist of it. His new friend seemed to have a flare for the dramatic, and he put on a rather authoritative voice to introduce the school to him. Although, when Hibiki accepted the tour, he had no idea he was going to have to sit through a sermon about one of the most popular girls in school.

“Dude! That’s Io. How can you not know her? She’s only, like, perfect!” Hibiki rolled his eyes. Sure, she was pretty, but was Daichi really that shallow of a person?

“Really?”

“Blasphemy! Not another word from you! How dare you speak to our idol like that!?” Hibiki sighed. He knew who Io was. He was just not prepared to talk endlessly about her. That seemed to be the only thing on most people’s minds. At least, with certain types of guys. Hibiki had only hoped Daichi was above the gossip. Then again, no one was perfect. As much could be said about Io.

“What else?”

“What else? She’s smart, she’s athletic, pure, modest-” Alright, apparently, Io was excluded from the rule of imperfection. 

“Nevermind, forget I asked.” So, Daichi was one of those types that obsessed over Io, too. He guessed it was inevitable. For some reason, he found himself uninterested with her. She was a good companion, but he did not understand all the chatter. It probably had to do with the fact he already had trouble telling some girls apart, and that Io had no distinct characteristics to set her apart from everyone else besides her soft spoken tone.

“Come on! How can you not feel a swelling of manly desi-” Hibiki gave him an odd look, and he cleared his throat to look elsewhere. “-yeah, I should stop.” When Daichi found himself talking about Hibiki’s swelling manly desires, it was time to derail. 

“I know her. We go to the same English class.”

“No way! Introduce me!” Hibiki muttered back as quietly as possible, and tried to shake Daichi off his arm.

“Introduce yourself…” The girl they called Io greeted Hibiki, and he kindly greeted her back with a smile, as he always did. Then there was another greeting that joined the fray, and it was that of a more high-pitched and stuttering boy. Io cocked her head slightly, and Daichi shoved his hands into his pockets nervously to not twiddle his thumbs like a child.

“Um, hi. Have we… met before?” Hibiki could tell that Io’s soft voice was doing things to Daichi that Daichi himself was unaware of. Like the way his stuttering suddenly got a lot worse and his pitch dropped lower.

 

“Um, uh, n-no b-but, uh-” Hibiki had his arms folded behind his back with a pleased smile on his face. He leaned in closer to Daichi to whisper in his ear.

“You wish you had hipster glasses now, don’t you, Shakespeare?” Daichi elbowed Hibiki’s rib-cage softly only to set him back a few steps.

“H-Hi, no, we haven’t met before, but we’ve met now, right? Haha...ha...” She looked a little lost, and turned to Hibiki for some clarity. Hibiki only shrugged, and pulled up his wrist to tap his fingers against it. She parted her lips, let out a silent ‘oh’ and turned to Daichi again with a smile.

  
“Sorry, Daichi, I have to go now. It was nice meeting you.” Io gave Hibiki a small pat on the shoulder as she passed him, and he mouthed a ‘you’re welcome’ before she turned the corner. It was not that Hibiki did not want Io to talk to Daichi, it was just painfully clear that she did not desire it. In truth, he did not blame her for it. She had to deal with multiple people like this, and Daichi was just one of them. All he could do was silently help her figure out a way to avoid awkward conversation. As nice of a person as Daichi was, Hibiki knew he would get nowhere if he spoke to Io as if she were an idol rather than a normal person. First thing he had to do was rid himself of the obsession before he could make any sort of move without stuttering. Daichi snapped him out of his daydreaming when he sighed out loud.

 

“Well, that… happened.”

“She knew your name.” Hibiki said it to cheer him up, and it seemed to have worked.

“Wait, you’re right. How-”

“I might have mentioned you once or-” Daichi punched his upper arm again, and while Hibiki was now convinced it was an act of endearment, it still hurt a little from time to time.

“Get out! What did you tell her!? How close are you two!?” Close enough for Io to figure out the fact he was making hand gestures to hint who it was she was speaking to. Not that the hand gesture of someone playing a piano was hard to decipher. She was not his best friend by any stretch of the imagination, but they were good study partners.

“That’s a secret.” The pout on Daichi’s face made Hibiki reach out to ruffle his hair, which only made Daichi glare at him apathetically. 

“Don’t worry, you’re a very desirable 160cm pianist.” Daichi appeared to be hurt by comment, and his mind completely glossed over the fact Hibiki referred to him as ‘desirable’.

“I’m taller than you, and I’m definitely not 160! I’m 171!”

“No way.”

“I just slouch a lot. Come here, let’s compare.” Daichi stepped closer to Hibiki and placed his palm over Hibiki’s forehead. When he looked up at the distance between them, he came to the conclusion that they were probably the same height, but he still stressed the fact that he was taller.

“See? We’re not-” When Daichi’s eyes met with Hibiki’s, he realized that he might have stepped a little too close, and took one huge step back to put some distance between them. “-not doing it correctly! U-um, we’re supposed to stand back to back, right?”

“Io’s left, Daichi, you can stop stuttering.”

“That-! You-!” Daichi did not know what to say, or why he was struggling to speak, but he pressed his lips into a thin line and stared daggers at Hibiki.

“You’re short and you’re mean! The tour ends here, sir hipster glasses!”   
  
Hibiki still never understood what his glasses had to do with anything.

 

* * *

 

Hibiki never intended to seek Daichi out to befriend him. It just happened spontaneously. 

 

Before he knew it, he was spending breaks with Daichi regularly, doing group projects with him, and even managed to sit down and play the piano once or twice with little experience because of him. It was not much later that Daichi suggested they meet up outside of school, which came as a surprise to Hibiki’s mother, since he practically never went outside with anyone else besides her. This newfound camaraderie was opening up all sorts of doors, and was bringing him closer to other people as well.

Daichi was overall a pleasure to be around. Despite the hardships he faced, he always kept his spirits up. Whenever Hibiki opened up to him, he took it seriously and listened until the very end before trying to take his mind off it, suggesting some fun activity or showing him a goofy video he found online. As simple as those actions were, they worked perfectly on him.

 

The struggle he faced was clearer when Daichi was in a saddened mood, which highlighted one of Hibiki’s more prominent weaknesses. He could comfort the person, but he could never seem to completely drag them out of their unhappiness. It really depended on the person, but Daichi did it so effortlessly and so often that it hurt not being able to return the favor.

Daichi rested his head on Hibiki’s shoulder and stared down at the piano longingly, as if he had not played a melody for a decade, rather than ten days. Motivation dwindled for everyone, but Daichi hit a different type of low when he was feeling sad. He was not as responsive, initiated conversation less, and seemed completely void of humor. While others could put on an act, Daichi did not seem like a person who could mask his suffering at all. It made it more difficult to deal with, considering Hibiki had to play guessing games in his head until he found a plausible explanation to his friend’s suffering.

 

“Are you upset about the contest?”

“No, I told you, I lost fair and square, even with you there.” Hibiki knew Daichi never really stopped to think before he said anything, which was why these kind comments felt all the more sincere. Daichi managed to make it seem like having Hibiki at his side would guarantee them an entry. Even if Hibiki had only known him for a month or two now, it felt out of character to see him so dejected.

“It’s the day I wrote that composition…” Daichi said it as if it were a bad thing.

“Is that why you’ve been feeling low?” Daichi pulled himself away from Hibiki’s shoulder, and the lack of warmth around them was downright uncomfortable.

“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know. I probably shouldn’t bother you with this. It’s not like you can do anything about it…” That was inevitable. Hibiki already knew that others had problems that he could not swoop in and fix, no matter how much he tried or believed he could, but if there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that he could always try to understand and help cheer them up.

“You can tell me anything, Daichi.” Hibiki had come to value Daichi’s friendship a lot over the past couple of weeks, and if he was given the opportunity to help ease Daichi’s worries then he’d take the chance, no questions asked.

“Sorry. I’m supposed to play the piano, and here I am, stuck sulking.” Daichi offered him a small smile, but his eyes were still focused on the white and black, darting from one key to the next, as if he was playing with his mind rather than his hands. It was obvious that Daichi was not comfortable talking about it. At least, not yet.

  
“Wait here,” Hibiki got off the bench and ran over to the storage room and returned with a violin. Hibiki began tuning the violin, starting with the A string and finishing with the E string. Daichi eyed him curiously, before asking him what he was up to.

“Do you want to hear something I composed not long after I met you?” Hibiki smiled when he saw Daichi’s eyes light up. “I guess that’s a yes?” Daichi must have noticed he was staring, because he turned his head away to look down at the piano again.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead.” Hibiki never mentioned that he played the violin. It never really got brought up in conversation, but he was happy to show off some of his skills. After running into Daichi, and listening to his music, it motivated Hibiki to start composing songs in his own free time. The songs were nothing extraordinary, but he enjoyed the process more than the finished product.

 

Hibiki’s fingers softly curled around the neck of the violin, while his other hand moved the bow in a zigzag-like pattern to produce powerful sounds. When Daichi first heard Hibiki say he was going to play the violin, his first impression was that it was going to be something sorrowful, or calming. Instead, he found the tempo upbeat, and he was now the one struggling to keep track of how often Hibiki’s fingers moved over the strings to change chords. The performance was sweet and short, but Daichi kept wondering if Hibiki had written lyrics to the melody, or if he decided it was better off as an instrumental piece. He caught himself staring at Hibiki’s lips, wondering if he was going to start singing. 

“What do you think?”

“Hm?” Daichi blinked and tore his eyes off Hibiki’s lips so he could look him in the eye. “Oh! The song! Um, do you have lyrics for it?”

“Yes, but I find it hard to sing and play at the same time.” Daichi reached out to nudge Hibiki’s side playfully.

“It was good. I kind of want to hear the lyrics now.” Hibiki smiled and set the violin down on top of the piano before turning around to pat Daichi’s shoulder.

“Some other time, maybe. Let’s finish up for today.”

“Right, right… Sorry about all this. Everything will go back to normal tomorrow.” Hibiki wanted to tell him not to rush it, but he did not know if it would come across as insensitive. Daichi sighed and pushed the bench out so he could stand up and stretch his arms.

“Come on, let’s get some tea and go home.” Hibiki nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

* * *

 

Ever since they realized they lived in the same neighbourhood, they had been walking home together from school every day. They would make use of the piano and the equipment in the storage room before leaving, and talked during the entire train ride.

 

That was usually what happened. 

 

On this day however, Daichi was far too sullen to keep conversation going. Hibiki wanted to ask more questions, but it felt impolite to pry. At least, Daichi seemed to lighten up a little when they purchased some hot tea during this cold, windy afternoon. It was almost time for their winter break, and Hibiki wanted to ask Daichi if he had any plans so they could meet up after school. Aside from compose music together, Daichi occasionally pulled him outside to his favorite bookstores and game shops. Hibiki never really owned a gaming console besides the earliest PS1, while Daichi seemed to know even the more obscure console names. It was a fair trade, Hibiki guessed. He got to learn more about different games, and Daichi got to learn more about different authors and books.

 

Although, right now, it was difficult to get Daichi to speak about anything. Bringing up relevant topics of interest got him nowhere, and it only appeared to make Daichi a lot more nervous. 

 

“Did I kill the mood? I’m listening. I just don’t know what to say.” Daichi set the cup down next to himself and rested his hands in his lap. The speaker's announced the next train, and Hibiki looked at his phone to see how much longer they would have to wait.

“Do you want to talk about the composition?” Daichi shook his head dismissively.

“It can’t be helped. It happened a long time ago.” He forced a smile. “I’m just being immature.”

“Maybe I can’t help, but I can listen to you.” Daichi offered Hibiki a look- a look Hibiki could only describe said something along the lines of ‘why, though?’.

It was easy to tell when Daichi was holding something back. His voice would come out a lot less fluent, and his shoulders would tense up as if the emotions he was trying to suppress were at the brink of making him break in two.

“I started composing that piece for my mom, four years ago. I never finished it in time for her to hear it.” That low whisper was enough to discourage Hibiki from keeping the conversation going. One sentence easily told him that he should not try to force this conversation to happen.

“Oh… I’m sorry.” The look Daichi offered him now was different, and it took three whole seconds of silence for Hibiki to understand why Daichi let out a laugh. A long, sincere laugh.

“My mom is alive, you moron!” The insult was said in a more lighthearted tone, but Hibiki assumed there was still some truth to it. He felt ashamed for jumping to conclusions, and tried to listen more than make up his own anecdotes.

“She’s fine. She just never got to hear it before-” The mood seemed to drop again, and Daichi looked unwilling to keep the conversation going.

“I… I know there's no sense brooding over it, but sometimes I feel so… bitter.” There was a loud announcement before the dull echo of a train pulling up was heard through the subway. It was time for them to board their train, but Daichi remained seated.

“Sorry, you go on ahead. I’ll take the next one.” 

 

Hibiki did not move from the spot, even as the doors to the train closed and it began pulling away. He knew his mother was going to throw a fit if he arrived late, so he shot her a quick text, something about getting tea with his friend, before putting his phone down. Daichi continued pushing to close the topic.

“Hibiki, I’m not really up for conversation…”

“Yeah, I know.” He answered, and leaned his back against the bench, finding some peace in what now appeared to be a partly empty subway station. “I just thought you’d want some company.” 

They sat there for a while, watching people pass them by, more trains that they could not board, until Daichi decided to break the silence.

“You’re really going to waste your time here with me when you can just go home?” Daichi was awful at hiding his fears and insecurities. Hibiki often got praised whenever he managed to read Daichi like an open book, but he could not see how others could not do the same. There were clear tells, little habits and quirks that repeated continuously no matter what feeling he was experiencing. Hibiki gently curled his fingers into a fist and nudged Daichi’s upper arm with a warm smile. The friendly gesture helped Daichi open up a little more.

 

“I composed that song for stupid reasons. It’s just embarrassing to think about.” Hibiki lowered his arm and tried to cheer him up.

“At least you didn’t do it to impress a girl.” Daichi chuckled. Hibiki did not have the heart to tell him he made the joke only because Daichi actually fit the type that would throw someone a serenade if he could.

“Kind of. My mom and dad were going through some hard times, so I decided to make them a song. I dunno, I was thirteen, I was an idiot-”

“It sounds like a nice gift.” The atmosphere was suddenly void of humor.

“No, man. Not nice. Not nice at all. I had this crazy idea that I could bring them together if I made them a song or something.” His shoulders grew tense, and he balled his hands into fists as they rested at his sides.

“I skipped school, I did nothing but play on our piano, and it didn’t exactly help my parents in the long run. It didn’t help me either. My grades got pretty lousy because of it, and they still got divorced.” The root of the problem was finally showing its teeth. Something like divorce was a hard concept for Hibiki to grasp, because his mother and father never fought, let alone spoke about a divorce. There were so many things Hibiki wanted to say, but they all felt too stereotypical.

 

“So, you associate the track with the divorce?” Daichi was staring at the floor, humming. It looked like there was something else he wanted to say, but he was struggling to decide whether to share it or not.

“Oh, geez, you like getting personal, don’t you?” He chuckled again, small, weak, and forced. The topic was clearly making him uncomfortable.

“Sorry, I’ll stop asking.” Another announcement was heard, and it was for one of their trains. Daichi still looked too stiff to move from the spot.

“Um, Hibiki, I really appreciate it but… today’s just not a good day. Can you go on without me? I’ll stay here for a bit.” It pained Hibiki to leave Daichi so vulnerable, but if this was what he wanted, then he was not going to stand in the way of it. With a small creak, the shuffle of a bag, and a pat on the shoulder, he removed his scarf to wrap it around Daichi- something that made Daichi turn his head and look up at Hibiki.

 

“What’s this for?”

“For company.” Hibiki’s smile widened when he saw the lost look on Daichi’s face. “If you’re going to sit in the cold, try to stay warm.” His hands came up to adjust the scarf over Daichi’s lips to shield his cheeks from the winter breeze, and Daichi wondered just why he could not take his eyes off Hibiki, or say anything to stop him before he waved him goodbye and got on the train in time. Daichi could feel his mind telling him to stand up and run after him, but his body was glued to the bench. All he could do was watch as the train pulled away, and he was left alone in the subway station with his friend’s yellow scarf wrapped around his neck. He placed his fingers over the fabric and took a small look around to see how much privacy he was entitled to in a rather public place.

“Why did I-” His breathing was uneven, and his hands were starting to shake. “I almost told him I-” He shivered, arms coming up to wrap around his body. The words were faint, but sounded as if they echoed through the subway. He pulled his knee up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his leg to rest his head. “No, I can’t… I can’t tell him that...” He stared down at the scarf he was handed until it became nothing but a blurred mess before his eyes. No one needed to know this story. No one should know this story. Even Daichi wanted to erase it from his memories. It would bring nothing but heartache and pour salt over old wounds that had yet to heal.

 

As soon as the next available train arrived, Daichi made sure to climb onboard.

 

* * *

 

Once winter break kicked in, Hibiki feared he would be bored out of his mind. 

 

This was the time to prepare for spring and upcoming exams. If he allowed himself some free time, he’d read a book or two. It wasn’t that he was not interested in trying out different things, it was mostly that new things were difficult to get into, and hard to find. Daichi had shared his PSP with Hibiki at one point to show off a game he liked, and Hibiki failed remembering what each button did to play the game fully. Playing the game became a hassle, and he gave up fairly quick. Daichi claimed that some combinations were universally understood to do certain things, but Hibiki had a hard time believing it. Gaming was not his strong suit, but the experience was still fun. Watching Daichi play through the game was much more fun than playing it himself.

 

It was partly why he wanted to spend more time with Daichi. As comfortable as he was spending holidays alone, it felt so much nicer to spend it in the company of someone who was so blissful to be around. He found himself calling Daichi with a suggestion in mind. For once, he had found something they could do together. Once Hibiki heard shuffling at the other line, he knew Daichi had answered the phone.

“Hey, Daich,” There was really no point in Hibiki shortening his name by one letter to save a vowel, but the nickname seemed welcomed. Even through the phone, Hibiki could feel the smile present on Daichi’s lips as he heard the nickname.

“Ohhhh, it’s you! Hey, man, what’s up?” Hibiki picked up the faint sound of music in the background, and smiled fondly at the melody ringing clear in his ears.

“Is that the song you composed all those years ago?” The question stumped him.

“No! Well, yes, but- It just sat there unfinished and then you- the singing- I just thought an update would be- Hibiki, why are you actually calling?” Hibiki tried his best to stifle a chuckle, but Daichi still managed to grumble out a ‘i heard that’ to stress how unnecessary Hibiki’s laughter was. Much like all other attempts to tease Daichi, they bounced back on topic rather quickly. Daichi made sure they did.

 

“Anyways… what’s up, dude? Why the call?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to come over for new years eve.” Absolute static. The delay lingering between Hibiki’s question and Daichi’s answer only became unbearable when Hibiki feared speaking up to disrupt the atmosphere. Something told him Daichi would already have made up his mind had he actually wanted to join him. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of nothing but silence, some sort of sound made it through the phone line.

“...I think the phone cut off. Can you say that again?” It was not a difficult question to pose the first time, but since Daichi asked him to repeat himself, it gained a sharper edge, and Hibiki worried that he messed up his delivery.

“Do you want to come over for new years eve?”

“Oh, buddy…” Hibiki heard a strange static interfere with the line, and Daichi’s voice was starting to come out a lot more scrambled. “-sorry, I kind of, well, I’m sure I’d be allowed to but- I couldn’t.” Then again, maybe it was just the way he talked. 

“If you’re busy then that’s okay.”

“Haha, no, I’m not busy, I- um, hang on.” Hibiki heard Daichi fumble with the phone for a second before it went dead silent again. The pause was not as long as the first one, but Daichi sounded worried when he finally gave some sort of response.

“I’ll think about it. Can we meet up somewhere?” 

 

Hibiki made a mental note to tell his mother he would not be back until at least nine o clock. 

 

* * *

 

They met up in a park near their neighbourhood to take a casual stroll. It was too late to go to Shinjuku, and most of the shops they go to normally were going to be closed by the time they got there. The calm air helped clear his head, but it also managed to get Daichi to pose one question Hibiki did not think was going to come up in conversation for a long time.

 

“Do you want to come back to my place for a bit?”  
  


* * *

 

The walk had mostly been silent with little snippets of conversation happening only when Hibiki initiated it. Weak hums and sighs of agreement was all he got from Daichi up until he welcomed him into his home.

 

Daichi’s house was about the same size and build as his, but there was far too little furniture there for it to be considered lived-in. Daichi took off his shoes and reached out for Hibiki’s jacket to pull it off his shoulders and hang it at the coat-rack. Hibiki never expected Daichi to be so polite, nor for him to lead him past the kitchen into a small room that he could only guess was his bedroom.

There was a piano close to the window, a slim bookshelf on the opposite side, and a desk near the piano where a stack of schoolbooks rested that looked completely untouched. 

“This is long overdue but yeah, this is my room. We can practice here during winter break.” Daichi guided Hibiki inside and closed the door behind them. Hibiki began eyeing the room that looked nearly completely empty save a bed, desk, and the horizontal piano at the far corner. There were practically no books in his bookshelf, and the rest of the room lacked furniture. Had the walls been more narrow, Hibiki would have thought they stepped into a walk-in closet. 

 

It felt a little strange to see Daichi hold onto his palm so freely. His fingers were light against his skin, and barely had to make any effort to pull Hibiki over to the bench so they could sit down at the piano.

“Do you want to try playing a song? I could teach you. You seem like you remember things quickly. I was thinking we could test it out.” Hibiki glanced at Daichi, only for Daichi to look away and let go of his hand. Any assertiveness present in his tone dwindled and faded with the smile on his face. The lacking warmth around his fingers made him want to reach out to Daichi again. Winter cold took its toll on his skin, and Daichi’s hands were surprisingly soft considering how roughly he treated the piano sometimes. Hibiki took a seat, and stared at the keys as if they would start moving of their own volition. 

 

“Start with a G,” Hibiki’s clueless expression helped Daichi reach out to press down one of the keys to help him start. “Press it twice,” The sight of Hibiki’s inexperience was humorous. He was lost, using solely his pointing finger and nothing else. It made Daichi grin widely. He stood behind Hibiki to lean his knee on the bench and better reach out to help him. He took a hold of Hibiki’s palm and spread his fingers over the keys from E to B, and C to G.

“Use your whole hand,” Daichi moved his fingers over Hibiki’s softly, and helped him press the correct keys on the piano to help his muscle memory. Some sort of simple melody was forming, but it was still too soon for Hibiki to tell what he was trying to play. The keys he had to press in order were not hard to remember, but he found it a little more difficult when he had to hold some notes longer to let the sound linger.   
  
“Again, faster,” Hibiki shivered slightly, and turned to look up at Daichi questionably. Daichi stared back with a look Hibiki could only describe as purely innocent. There was definitely no way he was doing this on purpose, but God, it really felt like it. Daichi furrowed his brows slightly, and tried to clarify what he meant to say.

“Repeat this at least three times. Try to do it faster each time.” The combination of keys Daichi asked Hibiki to repeat was childsplay. G, G, D, D, E, E, D. It was as easy as easy could be, but Hibiki figured if he continued messing up, that Daichi would place his hand over his again and guide him through the melody. Sure enough, one slip up brought Daichi’s soft hand back on his, and he felt the pressure each time Daichi pushed his fingers down against the keys. He had no clue why it felt so pleasant, but he was prepared to make a complete fool of himself just to feel Daichi’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing him lightly to get his attention and help him focus. If Hibiki could be honest, hearing Daichi speak so close to his ear and feeling the warmth off his skin was doing anything but make him focus.

 

There was only so many times he could pull the same stunt without Daichi catching onto him.

 

“Hibiki, come on, it’s almost like you’re doing it on purpose.” When Hibiki failed to reply and bit his lip to stay silent, Daichi turned to look in his direction, and pulled his hands away.

“Oh my God, you are!” Hibiki’s cheeks turned rosy. Caught red-handed, laughing, and Daichi took a seat next to him only to try and shove him off the bench.

“Here I am, pouring my heart out, and you’re-!”

“You’re a great teacher.” Daichi narrowed his eyes.

“I’m insulted.” Hibiki could not stop himself from grinning.

“Then why are you smiling?”

“I’m not smiling,” Daichi stressed, and pointed at himself. “This is my judging face. I’m judging you.”

“With a smile.”

“Eyes on the piano, Hibiki!” Hibiki gave Daichi’s thigh a small pat to calm him down- eyes still shut from laughter. Daichi glanced down and noticed how their knees were bumping, and that Hibiki’s hand was still pressing into his thigh. He was not sure why it was there, but he had no desire to shy away. He would have pointed it out, had Hibiki not moved his hand to play the piano. A cold gust of wind brushed against the heated area, and it suddenly felt a little unnatural not to have Hibiki’s hands on him in some way.

 

“I guess this is what I’m supposed to expect from my best friend,” There was a different type of silence in the air now. One that Daichi noticed only because Hibiki stopped playing the melody halfway. His finger pressed against the D key loosely, but no sound was heard.

“...Best friend?” Daichi fidgeted, hoping he had not crossed the line.

“Yeah. It’s… not too soon to say that, right? Is it?”

“I… don’t know.” Hibiki was uncertain about a lot of things. About why Daichi would consider him a best friend, about why he was starting to feel a strong attachment to him, and most of all, why his cheeks were burning up. “I never really had a best friend, or a friend, really.” The apathy was evident in Hibiki’s voice. The way he phrased it made Daichi think he was ashamed of it for some reason. Hibiki was avoiding his gaze, as if to hide in an open space.

 

There was no way Daichi was going to allow him to look so dejected. Not when they had each other.

 

“Well, no more, right? It’s not like you have to be lonely. You’ve got me now, buddy!” He placed one hand on Hibiki’s shoulder and squeezed him gently. It worked a little too well. He had not expected Hibiki to look up at him with an earnest smile that so easily made his chest feel tight.

“Thank you, Daichi.” He let go almost instantly. It was now his turn to look away- shy and a little surprised. The blush on his cheeks was faint, but the waver in his voice was clear as day. Gratitude was not something he was used to accepting. 

“Oh, c’mon, don’t say it all formal like that. It’s embarrassing… Sheesh.”

“Thanks, Daich,”

“That’s not what I-!” Daichi punched Hibiki in the arm, and Hibiki responded by draping said arm around Daichi to pull him into his embrace. Daichi did the same purely by instinct, and was glad to feel the heat that rushed through his body as they hugged. It never used to be like this before. Friendships rarely got so intimate, but Daichi was going to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.

“Hey, Daichi,” Hibiki looked straight at him, a smile on his lips and both arms around his waist. “-you’ve got me now, too.” And, the moment was gone. Too much. There was definitely too much of a good thing happening. So, Daichi distanced himself and broke their embrace, cheeks turning a little redder. He really wondered if Hibiki had an irresistible urge to say embarrassing things out loud, because he seemed to do it a lot.

 

“...I never finished telling you the full story.” Hibiki’s hands rested on the piano only for a second before he put his hands in his lap to hear Daichi out.

“The full story?”

“At the subway station. And during practice.” Hibiki parted his lips, but tried to hold his breath to give Daichi room to talk.

“It just felt nice having someone around who didn’t know but…” Hibiki posed a question only to get Daichi to start talking again. He seemed lost in thought.

“Didn’t know what?”

“That I’ve been disowned by both my parents.” The mood turned heavier, thicker, and Daichi was going down a road he never went down before. People usually found out about this through rumors. That was what happened at his previous school. Awful words were tossed around, words that made him regret trusting his so called ‘friends’ from said school. It was why he hesitated to share anything in confidence. The worst outcome was not being made fun of, but that others would see him as a misfit; that he got pushed aside because of something terrible that he did to lose his parent’s loyalty. It was so easy to make up stories, and thanks to misplaced trust, a lot of unfortunate rumors started circling the school.

“I kinda haven’t told this story to anyone. Why would I, right? Makes me look like a complete idiot. Trying to bring two people together through song, what is this, an shojo anime? Haha...” A smile tugged at the corner of Hibiki’s lips, and he reached out to rest his hand at the back of Daichi’s neck. Daichi raised his hand a little, as if to ward Hibiki off, but lowered it when he realized there was no point in keeping his guard up.

“Actually… I got tossed around between guardians a lot before they settled on my grandma.” Daichi had a faint clue why neither of his parents wanted to associate with him anymore. He tried to suppress the memory ever since it took place, so the images were fuzzy. It was all a scrambled mess, but he distinctly remembered them giving him a reason, and he remembered just how much it hurt to know they were right. 

“No one really wants or needs another kid on their hands. The only reason grandma took me in is because I had nowhere else to go.” Helplessness, restlessness, fatigue, and heartache. Those were the feelings imbued with the memories he had trouble recalling. All he could say for sure was that he did not blame them for giving him up, and that he agreed with them to some extent. If given another chance, he would try to rise up to the expectations they set on him. It might not have had anything to do with their expectations, but why else would they refuse to visit on holidays or birthdays? Daichi figured his presence was not important, if not also completely unneeded. 

“They don’t allow you to just drop kids off at the orphanage, apparently. Not if both parents are fit to be parents. So, the only way for them to get out of it was to drop me off here. Been here ever since.” He got up before Hibiki had the chance to squeeze his shoulder. Daichi did not want him to notice how tense he was, how stiff his shoulders were, or the fact that he was starting to shiver despite wearing a shirt and a sweater.

 

“It probably sounds stupid. Some people move out when they’re thirteen years old, and here I am, complaining about it.” It was not the same. He knew that it was not the same, but he did not want to risk sounding pathetic in front of the one person that bothered to hear him out. The comparison was unfair. Daichi rested his knee on the bench again and moved his arm over Hibiki to lead his fingers along to the melody.

“Follow my hand, slowly,” Daichi placed his hand over Hibiki's and pressed his fingers against the keys. Hibiki followed his lead, but focused more on Daichi’s warm hand guiding him than on memorizing the movement of their joined hands. He also tried to disregard the fact that Daichi had ended his story rather abruptly with no closure. 

 

It was very hard to focus.

 

“Hibiki, you’re playing twinkle twinkle little star, how difficult do you want to make this?”

“As difficult as it has to be for your hands to stay on mine,” Daichi laughed, and moved his arms to wrap them around Hibiki in a warm hug.

“You always tell me not to cheat on our tests and now you want to cheat playing piano!?” Hibiki wondered how Daichi completely misinterpreted his sentiment. It lead to a hug, so he was not too disappointed. Hibiki leaned back and turned his head, nuzzling into Daichi’s neck.

“Thanks for telling me.” He wondered if he could feel Daichi shiver at his touch- shiver to the delicate breath tickling his skin, or if it was all just pure imagination.

“Hm? O-Oh, that…” Hibiki placed his hands over Daichi’s to soothe him. “-you don’t have to comfort me, it’s fine,”

“Why didn’t you want me to know this?” Daichi chuckled bitterly, and let his arms relax around Hibiki.

“Isn’t it embarrassing to admit you practically drove your own parents away? I dunno, it sounds pretty embarrassing to me.”

“Daichi…”

“I don’t think about it much. December is a little difficult. It’s fine if you’d rather hang out with Io for a while.” Daichi gave Hibiki a solid pat on the back. From what Hibiki could gather from his motion, it sounded as if Daichi was encouraging him to leave.

“...Do you have somewhere to be on new years?”

“T-this again?...”

“You never answered me the first time.”

“No, I don’t have anywhere else to be but…”

“You don’t want to?”

“N-no! That’s not it either! U-um…” Daichi averted his eyes, fingers fidgeting and shoulders tense. His lips made the smallest of movements, his words came off in the sound of whispers.

“I-I mean… You have your own family… That’s what I wanted to say…”

“My family doesn’t celebrate holidays or festive occasions like birthdays. They don’t care how I spend new years.” That caught Daichi’s attention, and he stared right at him- eyes wide, hopeful, surprised and a little eager to hear where this was going.

 

“So, if you’re free-”

“Yes!” The quick reply had Hibiki chuckle, and left Daichi mildly red around the cheeks. He forgot he was still leaning his body against Hibiki and had his lips close to his ear.

“I mean-!” Daichi cleared his throat and gave Hibiki’s chest a small pat. “-I’d have to check my schedule. Which is gonna be hard ‘cause I don’t have a schedule.”

“Hey, Daich,” Hibiki turned his head and pressed his lips against Daichi’s cheek. “-stop sulking and let’s get together on new year’s eve,” He was surprised Daichi did not push him away, and only moved his hand up to rub his cheek.

“Dude, only girls do th- give me those-!” Daichi stole Hibiki's glasses and put them on to distract him. Hibiki’s lips curved into a faint smile, and he made no effort to take them back. He leaned in with a small sigh, and adjusted the glasses that were now resting on Daichi’s face.

“I’m lucky,”

“Hm? Lucky you’re spending new years with someone?”

“Lucky I’m nearsighted.” He wondered if Daichi would consider wearing his glasses more often.

 

Daichi made no further comment about the kiss, but removed Hibiki’s glasses to hand them back when they served their purpose as a distraction. It slowed conversation down to the point Hibiki thought Daichi was going to pull away. To his surprise, Daichi continued to lean against him, arms over his chest and head resting against his. Hibiki grew accustomed to the extra weight, the warmth, and the feeling of Daichi’s chest pressing against his back- rising and falling at every breath. Hibiki met Daichi’s gaze only for a split second before Daichi looked away. 

 

“...You should probably go before you get snowed in.” Hibiki smiled faintly, eyes half-lidded and tired. 

“Hm… yeah. That would be a shame.” He wondered if Daichi was just as tired as he was, or if this was code for him to stick around a bit longer.

 

“So?...” Hibiki mused, expecting an answer.

“So… what?” His smile widened, and he leaned his head back to nuzzle closer- something Daichi seemed to welcome.

“Are you going to let me go?” Daichi hummed lightly as he gazed out the window, arms now tightening around Hibiki’s chest. The snow was pouring. Simply looking at it was enough to send shivers through his whole body. Interrupting their embrace seemed far too rude, but Daichi was aware they could not stay like this forever.

 

No matter how good it felt, or how difficult it was to let go.

 

“...What’s five more minutes to a procrastinator?”

 

It was almost a little embarrassing to confess how long that hug lasted for, or how unwilling he was to let go of Hibiki. Hibiki did not care much if Daichi whined when he pressed his lips against his cheek again. All Hibiki noticed was that Daichi was not pulling away.


End file.
